Happy 87th birthday to film historian, documentary film maker, author, pioneering preservationist and Academy Award honoree Kevin Brownlow, whose numerous contributions to world film culture have helped countless individuals, including myself, bring projects to life. He was born in England on this day in 1938. More about Kevin Brownlow and his many accomplishments can be found on his Wikipedia entry.
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of meeting up with Kevin on more than a few occasions, including the time he asked me over to his London home while my wife and I were visiting England. We talked about Louise Brooks for more than an hour, and he shared some of his LB research notes with me -- where I was surprised to discover a reference to the Louise Brooks Society!
Another time, we signed books side by side at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. That was an honor. We said "hello" whenever we encountered one another at silent film screenings, once the following day at the Cinema Museum that time in London in 2016 (Kevin introduced his print of Man, Woman and Sin, starring John Gilbert & Jeanne Eagles), at the SFSFF on a few occasions pre-Covid, at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, and at a Cinecon screening for John Ford's The Iron Horse at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood. I believe the latter screening was the first time we ever met.
Another early meeting was brunch at Emily Leider's house in San Francisco (with Donna Hill, of course).
Kevin Brownlow has had a profound influence on my interest in Louise Brooks and early film, and thus my life. When I was in college ever so long ago, I saw his Hollywood series on PBS and was intrigued. I believe that series planted a seed in myself that only bloomed later on.... I appreciate our conversations and emails over the years, his generous sharing of information and images, and the foreword he wrote to my most recent book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. Thank you, Kevin.
I would also like to thank Kevin for all the books he has signed for me (I am a bit of an obsessive collector), and for restoring Abel Gance's Napoleon (1927). Seeing that film at the Paramount theater in Oakland back in 2012 stands as the greatest cinematic experience of my life. Here is something I wrote for the Huffington Post at the time. I hope it conveys a bit of my enthusiasm.
I wrote about Kevin on a few occasions. In fact, Kevin featured in the second piece I wrote for Huffington Post, about another English film historian, back in 2010. Here are a few of those pieces.
2010: Remembering H.A.V. Bulleid, Author and Pioneering Film Historian
2010: Rare Oscar to a Film Historian... and the Award Goes to Kevin Brownlow
2011: Oscar-Winner Kevin Brownlow Continues His Labour on Behalf of Cinema's Past
If you have any interest in silent film be sure and track down as many as possible of Kevin Brownlow's books and documentary films. His classic text, The Parade's Gone By (1968) is a must read. And, his 13-part Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980) series is epic. His 6-part Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood is also outstanding. Louise Brooks features in all three of these works.
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